Emma Ricuito is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Deer Valley High School volleyball.

The Deer Valley Skyhawks girls volleyball team came away with a win from their game against the Buckeye Hawks Tuesday night, by a score of 3-0.

In just their third game of the season, the Skyhawks won three sets in their match-up against the Hawks to produce a thrilling victory on their home court.

It was a team effort, with multiple players doing well in their three-set game. Many kills were credited to the same group of players, including Kaitlin Brown, Savannah Davis, Bailey Fuches, Maleah Reynolds and Elizabeth Rupp.

Deer Valley put on a dominating performance in the first set, maintaining the lead from the first serve. The Skyhawks held Buckeye to only one point for quite some time and only allowed the Hawks to get six points total. They had kills coming from multiple players, including middle blocker Elizabeth Rupp, who was satisfied with her personal game.

“I think I did pretty well. I had some errors, but I think overall I did very well with my hits and placing them where they (opposing players) weren’t,” Rupp said.

After winning the first set 25-6, the second was another takeover by Deer Valley. Once they beat the tie at one, the Skyhawks held the lead until they won, 25-9. With momentum in their favor, Deer Valley controlled the set once again, finishing the game with the final score of 25-12 in the third set.

Head coach Jackie Wallace was pleased with her team’s performance and was glad everyone was able to get into a good rhythm. Sticking to the game plans was something Wallace was looking forward to nailing with her team this season, and she thinks that showed that in the game on Tuesday night.

“I definitely feel that we did execute our game plan, which was to run quick. We worked on that a lot tonight, and it was great to see – and it was smooth. I liked it,” Wallace said.

Wallace’s coaching style and ability to create personal relationships with her team is something that is admired and welcomed by players, like libero Carsyn Schuch.

“She has a really good bond with the team – and she always has. She connects to us on a coaching level and a personal level, which is really cool,” Schuch said. “We not only look at her as a coach, but someone we can count on.”

Though it’s still early on in the season, concepts are clicking between the Skyhawks on the court and things are coming together when the team wants it the most. “Everyone rises to play together, and they have one goal – they’re trying to reach that goal,” Wallace said.

Deer Valley looks to keep this winning streak alive the rest of this week and then into the weekend at the Westwood Tournament of Champions, where the team plays Cibola, Hamilton, Boulder Creek, St. Mary’s, Westwood and Desert Ridge on Friday and Saturday.

The Skyhawks next match-up is Thursday against the Shadow Mountain Matadors at 6 p.m. in Phoenix before they head to Mesa for the tournament.